Vertical cable manager with slam-shut door

ABSTRACT

A vertical cable manager includes a base frame and a door. The base frame has upper and lower support legs and upper and lower crossbars between the support legs. The door has retractable hinge pins at corners of the door. The crossbars have hinge rod receptacles to receive respective hinge pins and elastic latch members having a flexible arm and a catch portion. The catch portions secure the hinge pins in the hinge rod receptacles with the door closed and are deflectable through elastic deformation of the flexible arm to allow travel of the hinge pins through the hinge rod receptacles and past the catch portions when the door is moved from an open to a closed position.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/649,821, filed Jul. 14, 2017, the subject matter of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to vertical cable managers, and,more specifically, to vertical cable managers having slam-shut doors.

BACKGROUND

Vertical cable managers having doors to cover and protect the cablestraversing through the manager are well known in the art. However, manyvertical cable managers that have doors do not have doors with aslam-shut functionality or, if they do have slam-shut functionality,have complex or inefficient designs that can contain a large number ofcomponents and increased assembly costs.

Therefore, there is a need for a vertical cable manager with slam-shutdoors that have a simplified, efficient design with less components andreduced assembly cost.

SUMMARY

In one example, a vertical cable manager comprises a base frame and adoor. The base frame has a backbone, first and second upper support legsattached to a first end of the backbone, first and second lower supportlegs attached to a second end of the backbone, opposite the first end,an upper crossbar attached between the first and second upper supportlegs, and a lower crossbar attached between the first and second lowersupport legs. The door has a door panel and hinge pin assemblies, eachincluding a retractable hinge pin, secured to the door panel andpositioned at respective corners of the door panel. The upper and lowercrossbars each have first and second hinge rod receptacles to receiverespective hinge pins and first and second elastic latch members, whicheach comprise a base portion that connects to the crossbar, a flexiblearm extending from the base portion, and a catch portion extendinggenerally perpendicular from the flexible arm and disposed at a distalend of the flexible arm, opposite the base portion. The catch portionssecure the hinge pins in the hinge rod receptacles with the door in aclosed position and are deflectable through elastic deformation of theflexible arm to allow travel of the hinge pins through the hinge rodreceptacles and past the catch portions when the door is moved from anopen to a closed position.

In another example, a base frame for a vertical cable manager comprisesa backbone, first and second upper support legs attached to a first endof the backbone, first and second lower support legs attached to asecond end of the backbone, opposite the first end, an upper crossbarattached between the first and second upper support legs, and a lowercrossbar attached between the first and second lower support legs. Theupper and lower crossbars each have first and second hinge rodreceptacles to receive respective retractable hinge pins of a door andfirst and second elastic latch members, which each have a base portionthat connects to the crossbar, a flexible arm extending from the baseportion, and a catch portion extending generally perpendicular from theflexible arm and disposed at a distal end of the flexible arm, oppositethe base portion. The catch portions secure the hinge pins in the hingerod receptacles with the door in a closed position and are deflectablethrough elastic deformation of the flexible arm to allow travel of thehinge pins through the hinge rod receptacles and past the catch portionswhen the door is moved from an open to a closed position.

In another example, a door for a vertical cable manager comprises a doorpanel, first and second opposing hinge pin assemblies, a door handleassembly, and a cable assembly. The hinge pin assemblies are secured tothe door panel and are positioned at respective corners of the doorpanel. Each hinge pin assembly includes a retractable hinge pin to bereceived by a respective hinge rod receptacle in a crossbar of avertical cable manager. The cable assembly is connected at opposite endsto the opposing hinge pin assemblies and extends through the door handleassembly, such that rotation of the door handle assembly pulls the cableassembly in a direction away from the hinge pin assemblies, which movesthe retractable hinge pins of the respective hinge pin assemblies froman extended position to a retracted position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain examples of the present invention are illustrated by theaccompanying figures. It should be understood that the figures are notnecessarily to scale and that details that are not necessary for anunderstanding of the invention or that render other details difficult toperceive may be omitted. It should be understood, of course, that theinvention is not necessarily limited to the particular examplesillustrated herein.

FIG. 1 is a top front perspective view of an example vertical cablemanager according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top front perspective view of a portion of thevertical cable manager of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top front perspective view of the door of the vertical cablemanager of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top rear perspective view of the door of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded top front perspective view of the door of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an exploded top front perspective view of the door handleassemblies of the door of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an exploded top rear perspective view of the door handleassemblies of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exploded top rear perspective view of the door handleassemblies and a portion of the cable assemblies of the door of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged rear plan view of the door handle assemblies ofthe door of FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a top rear perspective view of a hinge pin assembly of thedoor of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge pin assembly ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a top front perspective view of the base frame of thevertical cable manager of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the base frameof FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a partial exploded view of the portion of the base frame ofFIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an exploded view of the portion of the base frame of FIG. 13with the cable finger units removed;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged perspective partial cutaway view of a portion ofthe vertical cable manager of FIG. 1 with the door in an open position;

FIG. 18 is a top view of the portion of the vertical cable manager inFIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged perspective partial cutaway view of a portion ofthe vertical cable manager of FIG. 1 with the door in a partially closedposition;

FIG. 20 is a top view of the portion of the vertical cable manager inFIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged perspective partial cutaway view of a portion ofthe vertical cable manager of FIG. 1 with the door in a closed position;and

FIG. 22 is a top view of the portion of the vertical cable manager inFIG. 21.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The examples shown and described herein provide a vertical cable managerhaving a base frame and at least one door that provide a slam-shut orpush-to-close feature that provides a positive affirmation that the dooris latched closed. The slam-shut feature of the examples have asimplified, efficient, and lower cost design that uses less componentsand reduces assembly cost of the vertical cable manager.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an example vertical cable manager 10 with aslam-shut door feature generally includes a base frame 100 (FIGS. 12-15)and a door 200 (FIGS. 3-11). Typically, the vertical cable managerincludes two doors.

Referring to FIGS. 12-15, base frame 100 generally includes backbone105, upper and lower support legs 135A, 135B, and upper and lowercrossbars 145A, 145B, and can also include cable finger units 175.Backbone 105 includes a generally planar back panel 110 and side panels115 that are positioned on opposing sides of back panel 110 and extendgenerally perpendicular to back panel 110. Backbone 105 is preferablymetallic and can be formed by a single, unitary piece of material thatis shaped to form back panel 110 and side panels 115. Alternatively,back panel 110 and side panels 115 can be formed as separate parts thatare attached together in any manner desired, such as by tabs, rivets,threaded members, welds, etc.

Upper support legs 135A are attached to a first end, or top end, ofrespective side panels 115 of backbone 105 and lower support legs 135Bare attached to an opposing second end, or bottom end, of respectiveside panels 115 of backbone 105 via rivets 610, or any other desiredattachment method. Upper and lower support legs 135A, 135B each includesupport tab apertures 140 (see FIG. 15) that receive support tabs 130 onside panels 115 of backbone 105 to increase rigidity between backbone105 and upper and lower support legs 135A, 135B.

Upper and lower support legs 135A, 135B have a geometry on the ends thatreceive upper and lower crossbars 145A, 145B, which can serve as supportsurfaces for door 200. Upper crossbars 145A are attached betweenopposing ends of upper support legs 135A and lower crossbars 145B areattached between opposing ends of lower support legs 135B with screws600 and nuts 605, which are captured within crossbars 145A, 145B. Upperand lower crossbars 145A, 145B can be attached to upper and lowersupport legs 135A, 135B in any manner desired, however, it is preferablethat crossbars 145A, 145B are removable to facilitate installation ofcables. Each upper and lower crossbar 145A, 145B includes hinge rodreceptacles 150, which in the example shown are slots formed incrossbars 145A, 145B, that receive hinge pins 305 (see FIG. 4) andcooperate with elastic latch members 155 to hold hinge pins 305. As bestseen in FIGS. 15 and 16, latch members 155 have a base portion 160 thatis used to connect latch members 155 to crossbars 145A, 145B through asnap fit or other connection methods. A flexible arm 165 extends frombase portion 160 and is elastically deformable to allow latch member 155to flex and deflect through engagement with a hinge pin 305 when door200 moves from an open to a closed position, as described in detailbelow. Catch portion 170 extends from flexible arm 165 at a distal endof flexible arm 165, opposite base portion 160, is generallyperpendicular to flexible arm 165, and secures hinge pins 305 in hingerod receptacles 150 of crossbars 145A, 145B when door 200 is in a closedposition, as described in detail below. Latch members 155 are made of anelastic material that returns to a default closed position unless latchmembers 155 are otherwise deflected by a hinge pin 305.

Cable finger units 175 can be mounted on front flange 116 or back panel110 to allow the routing and organization of cables in vertical cablemanager 10. Each cable finger unit 175 can have a base 190 and aplurality of fingers 195 that extend from base 190. In the exampleshown, each finger 195 has a generally L-shaped configuration to retaincables that are routed between fingers 195. In the example shown, cablefinger units 175 each have fifteen (15) fingers 195, which requires lesscable finger units 175 to cover base frame 100, thus reducing cost, butcan include any number of fingers desired. In addition, fingers 195 ofcable finger units 175 have an arcuate surface that faces inwards toprovide a bend radius for the cables and a flat outer surface.Therefore, cable finger units 175 on opposing left and right sides ofbase frame 100 would be a mirrored version of each other. In addition,in the example shown, cable finger units 175 are mounted on base frame100 to provide forward extending and rearward extending fingers.However, cable finger units 175 can be mounted in any combination anddirection desired. For example, cable finger units 175 could only bemounted to base frame 100 to provide forward extending fingers.

As can best be seen in FIG. 14, cable finger units 175 can be positionedon backbone 105 of base frame 100 through a plurality of T-shapedprotrusions 180 formed on cable finger units 175 that extend from theback of base 190, opposite fingers 195. Cable finger units 175 can alsobe secured to backbone 105 through one or more flexible snap members 185formed on the back of cable finger units 175. T-shaped protrusions 180on cable finger units 175 are configured to engage a plurality of slots120 formed in backbone 105 of base frame 100 to allow cable finger units175 to be properly aligned and positioned and flexible snap members 185are configured to engage and lock into apertures 125 formed in backbone105 of base frame 100 to removably secure cable finger units 175. Thus,no tools are required to position and install cable finger units 175,which simplifies assembly and installation and reduced costs.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, door 200 generally includes door panel 205,hinge pin assemblies 300 (FIGS. 8 and 10-11), cable assemblies 400, anddoor handle assemblies 500 (FIGS. 6-9). Door panel 205 can include doorskin 207 and covers 220 connected at opposing top and bottom ends ofdoor skin 207. Covers 220 each have center engagement rib 225, which isthe first point of contact when door 200 is moved from an open to closedposition. When center engagement ribs 225 contact crossbars 145A, 145B,door 200 wedges upwards and reduces friction near the closing area nearhinge pins 305. Covers 220 can also include distinct styling features,such as a pointed front face, angular grooves, and transition edges thatmatch corresponding transition edges on door skin 207. In the exampleshown, braces 230 can also be secured to door skin 207 to add stiffnessto door 200 and hide cable assemblies 400 when cable assemblies 400 arenot in tension. Any number of braces 230 can be secured to door skin 207with rivets 615, or by any other means desired.

Hinge pin assemblies 300 are secured to door panel 205 at corners ofdoor panel 205. As can best be seen in FIGS. 3-5, hinge pin assemblies300 are secured to door panel 205 such that upper and lower opposinghinge pin assemblies 300 extend and retract in opposite directions. Forexample, upper hinge pin assemblies retract downward (as shown inorientation of FIGS. 3-5) and lower hinge pin assemblies retract upward(as shown in orientation of FIGS. 3-5). Referring to FIGS. 8, 10, and11, each hinge pin assembly 300 includes hinge pin receiver 330, whichis securable to door panel 205, retractable hinge pin 305, and spring325. Hinge pin receiver 330 is generally cylindrical and receives spring325 and hinge pin 305. Hinge pin 305 is partially disposed within hingepin receiver 330 and extends through hinge pin receiver 330 such that adoor post portion 310 of hinge pin 305 is located on one side of hingepin receiver 330 and a second portion, having a clearance hole 315 toreceive splice 410 of cable assembly 400, is located on a second side ofhinge pin receiver 330, opposite door post portion 310. Door postportion 310 of hinge pin 305 is received by hinge rod receptacle 150 ofcrossbars 145A, 145B when door 200 is moved from an open to a closedposition, as described in detail below. Spring 325 is disposed withinhinge pin receiver 330 between hinge pin receiver 330 and hinge pin 305to bias hinge pin 305 towards an extended position.

Cable assemblies 400 interconnect upper and lower opposing hinge pinassemblies 300 and engage respective door handle assemblies 500 so thatrotation of a door handle assembly 500 retracts hinge pins 305 ofrespective upper and lower opposing hinge pin assemblies 300, asdescribed in detail below. Each cable assembly 400 is connected atopposite ends to opposing hinge pin assemblies 300. Referring to FIGS.5, 8-9, and 11, cable assemblies each include cable 405 and splices 410connected at each end of cable 405. Splices 410 engage hinge pins 305 toconnected cable assemblies 400 to hinge pin assemblies 300 and, in theexample shown, are Panduit® BS18 butt splices, which can be used for22-18 AWG wiring.

To connect a cable assembly 400 to a hinge pin assembly 300, a splice410 of cable assembly 400 is inserted through clearance hole 315 inhinge pin 305 at a non-vertical angle to the longitudinal axis of hingepin 305 (see FIG. 8). Splice 410 is then rotated until splice 410 iscoaxial with hinge pin 305. Overlap tabs 320 on hinge pin 305 have aspacing between them that is smaller than an outer diameter of splice410 such that overlap tabs 320 trap splice 410 once rotated and act as apush-to-lock feature.

As best seen in FIGS. 6-9, door handle assemblies 500 each include adoor handle 505 connected to a door handle backing 515, each positionedon opposite sides of door skin 207. Door handle 505 and door handlebacking 515 are mirror images about a longitudinal axis of door 200,which allows the same components to be used on both the left and rightside of door 200. Door handles 505 have undercut 507 to allow a user togrip door handle 505 when rotating door handle assembly 500 and pullingon door 200. Door handles 505 extend through apertures 210 in door skin207 of door panel 205 and have engagement ribs 510 (FIG. 7) thatinterlock with engagement slots 535 (FIG. 6) of door handle backings 515so that door handle assemblies 500 each rotate as a singular entity.

Door handle backings 515 are positioned opposite respective door handles505 and have keys 520 (FIG. 6) that engage with keyed cutouts 215 indoor skin 207 of door panel 205 to key the rotation of door handleassemblies 500 in a predetermined direction, which in the example shownis outwards, to retract hinge pins 305.

Cables 405 of cable assemblies 400 extend through a channel 525 inrespective door handle backings 515 at an approximately 45° anglerelative to the longitudinal axis of door 200 with hinge pins 305 in theextended position. As best seen in FIG. 6, each end of channels 525 hasbend radius control sections 530 that provide a bend radius for cables405 and define the motion of cable 405 when door handle assembly 500 isrotated.

The example vertical cable manager 10 described and shown herein cancome in various widths and heights. Varying the height of vertical cablemanager 10 can be accomplished through use of different height backbones105 with additional or larger/smaller cable finger units 175 andcorresponding height doors 200. Varying the width of vertical cablemanager 10 can be accomplished through use of wider or narrowerbackbones 105 and corresponding width crossbars 145A, 145B and doors200. Height and width variations can be combined to create an infinitenumber of heights and widths.

As can be seen in FIGS. 16 and 21-22, with door 200 in a closedposition, hinge pins 305 are in the extended position and catch portions170 of elastic latch members 155 secure hinge pins 305 in hinge rodreceptacles 150, which secures door 200 in the closed position andprevents door 200 from being pulled open. In this state, springs 325 ofhinge pin assemblies 300 are under compression to bias hinge pins 305towards the extended position and provide tension to cables 405 of cableassemblies 400, which forces the vertical alignment of cables 405 andkeeps door handle assemblies 500 constrained.

To open one side of door 200, one of the door handles 505 is rotated,which retracts hinge pins 305 on the respective side of door 200, untilhinge pins 305 clear latch members 155, allowing door 200 to be pulledopen and rotated about hinge pins 305 on the opposite, or closed, sideof door 200. Rotation of door handle 505 of door handle assembly 500moves cable assembly 400 and pulls cable 405 of cable assembly 400 in adirection away from hinge pin assemblies 300, which pulls hinge pins 305of hinge pin assemblies 300 and moves hinge pins 305 from the extendedposition to the retracted position to clear latch members 155. Once door200 has been pulled open, door handle 505 is released, which releasesthe tension on cable 405 to allow spring 325 to move hinge pin 305 fromthe retracted position to the extended position.

Referring to FIGS. 17-20, to close door 200, door 200 is pushed towardsthe closed position until hinge pins 305 are received in hinge rodreceptacles 150 and engage latch members 155 (FIGS. 17-18). As door 200is pushed further towards the closed position, each hinge pin 305continues to travel through hinge rod receptacle 150 and engages angledface 172 of catch portion 170, which extends at an acute angle withrespect to flexible arm 165 and the longitudinal axis of latch member155. Hinge pins 305 slide along angled faces 172, which pushes anddeflects catch portions 170 away from hinge pins 305 through elasticdeformation of flexible arm 165 (FIGS. 19-20). The deflection of catchportions 170 allows hinge pins 305 to continue to travel through hingerod receptacles 150 and past catch portions 170 as door 200 is pushedclosed and moved from the open to the closed position. When hinge pins305 move past catch portions 170, catch portions 170 move back to thedefault or closed position, due to the elasticity of flexible arm 165,such that catch portions 170 secure hinge pins 305 in hinge rodreceptacles 150, which secures door 200 in the closed position andprevents door 200 from being pulled open (FIGS. 21-22).

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the relevant artsthat changes and modifications may be made without departing from theinvention in its broader aspects. Therefore, the aim in the appendedclaims is to cover all such changes and modifications that fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the invention. The matter set forth in theforegoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way ofillustration only and not as a limitation. The actual scope of theinvention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewedin their proper perspective based on the prior art.

We claim:
 1. A vertical cable manager comprising: a base frame having upper support legs, lower support legs, an upper crossbar, and a lower crossbar, the upper crossbar k attached between opposing ends of the upper support legs, and the lower crossbar k attached between opposing end of the lower support legs; a door comprising a door panel; first and second opposing hinge pin assemblies secured to the door panel and positioned at respective corners of the door panel, each hinge pin assembly including a retractable hinge pin to be received by a respective hinge rod receptacle in one of the upper and lower crossbars of the vertical cable manager; a door handle assembly; and a cable assembly connected at opposite ends to the opposing hinge pin assemblies and extending through the door handle assembly; wherein rotation of the door handle assembly pulls the cable assembly in a direction away from the hinge pin assemblies, which moves the retractable hinge pins of the respective hinge pin assemblies from an extended position to a retracted position; wherein the retractable hinge pin includes a door post portion at one end and a clearance hole at the opposite end; the clearance hole receives a splice of the cable assembly; wherein the hinge pin is disposed within a hinge pin receiver, wherein the hinge pin extends through the hinge pin receiver with the door post portion located on one side of the hinge pin receiver and the clearance hole located on a second side of the hinge pin receiver; wherein the door handle assembly includes a door handle and a door handle backing, the door handle extends through an aperture in the door panel, the door handle has engagement ribs and the door handle backing has engagement slots that interlock with the engagement ribs of the door handle; wherein the door handle backing includes channels with bend radius control sections for providing bend radius control for the cables extending through the channels.
 2. The vertical cable manager of claim 1, wherein opposing retractable hinge pin assemblies retract in opposite directions.
 3. The vertical cable manager of claim 1, wherein each hinge pin assembly comprises: a hinge pin receiver secured to the door panel and configured to receive the retractable hinge pin; and a spring disposed within the hinge pin receiver and positioned between a portion of the hinge pin receiver and the retractable hinge pin to bias the retractable hinge pin towards the extended position.
 4. The vertical cable manager of claim 1, wherein each cable assembly comprises a cable and splices connected to each end of the cable, wherein the splices engage respective retractable hinge pins to connect the cable assemblies to the hinge pin assemblies and the cable extends through a channel in the door handle assembly.
 5. The vertical cable manager of claim 1, wherein braces are secured to the door for stiffness and to hide the cable assembly when the cable assembly is not in tension.
 6. The vertical cable manager of claim 1, wherein the splice of the cable assembly is inserted through the clearance hole at a non-vertical angle to a longitudinal axis of the hinge pin and the splice is rotated until the splice is coaxial with the hinge pin; and wherein the hinge pin includes overlap tabs that trap the splice once the splice is rotated in the hinge pin. 